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Apple announced OS X Mavericks a few days ago during the WWDC 2013 keynote, and we've been getting a bunch of questions about which Macs will work with the new operating system, like this one from Anette:

Q: OS X Mavericks looks cool, despite the silly name. However, it seems that when new software is introduced, a bunch of hardware is left out of the mix. Apple didn't make it clear which Macs will be able to run Mavericks. Do you know? Here's hoping my 2010 MacBook Air isn't left out in the cold!

A: Thankfully, it appears that Mavericks will be pretty forgiving, and won't need super-new hardware in order to run. In fact, it will run on some Macs that are as much as 6-years old. Here's the list:

As you can see, anyone who has bought a Mac within the past four years is covered and will be able to run OS X Mavericks. Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook aluminum buyers as far back as 2008 are also good. In fact, some MacBook Pro and iMac buyers from back in 2007 can even get in on the Mavericks action. We'd say that this is a pretty large blanket of Mac users that will be able to enjoy the next generation of OS X.

OS X 10.9 Mavericks is set to launch later this fall, and will be available exclusively on the Mac App Store. No pricing has been announced just yet, but if history is any indication, it will cost between $19.99 and $29.99.

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Apple is set to release it's next major operating system update, known os OS X Mountain Lion, later this month. In this edition of Ask Andru, Tracy writes in and asks if there is anything she should do to prepare her Mac computers for the Mountain Lion installation. I share some tips on what we can all do to ensure a smooth upgrade experience to Mac OS 10.8.

Question: I hear that Apple will be releasing a new version of OS X shortly. Is there anything I need to do in order to prepare for it to ensure that I can run it? Will it be expensive?

You're correct! Apple announced OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion just five months ago, and it will be available in under two weeks. Mountain Lion will sell exclusively on the Mac App Store for $19.99 (so, not expensive at all!) and will include some nice features, including AirPlay Mirroring from your Mac, tighter iCloud integration, Twitter and Facebook built-in at the system level, Reminders, Notes, Game Center, a new Messages app that will let you send and receive iMessages from the Mac, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. In total, there are over 200 new features that Apple is introducing in Mountain Lion.

Apple has relesed the official list of Mac computers that will be able to run its next operating system, OS X Mountain Lion. The good news is that pretty much anyone who bought a Mac in the past four years qualifies, but there are a few exceptions (we're looking at you, Mac mini.) Curious if your Mac fits the bill? Here's the list that breaks down whether you can run OS X 10.8 when Mountain Lion is released later this month:

So there you have it. If you're the owner of a Mac mini or Xserve, we feel your pain, but those machines were never the bulk of Apple Macintosh purchases. If you've got something older, your choices are to be stuck on Lion, or to get a new Mac. It's time.

Apple today announced that they were ending production of their Xserve line of servers, noting that the Mac mini servers are their most popular server platform by far. However, realizing that some may need more power than the mini offers, they've also introduced a server version of the Mac Pro. For those wanting a Mac Pro server, you can get one starting at $2,999 with a Quad-Core CPU, two 1TB hard drives, 8GB of memory and an ATI video card. Many upgrades are available including a faster processor, more memory, RAID card and more.